Groups call for ‘clear, enforceable’ mine waste-dam laws

Gordon Hoekstra, Vancouver Sun11.03.2015

Environmantal groups are calling for an end to industry self-regulation of tailing ponds as a provicnial committee continues it work of studying mining laws after last year’s failure of the tailings dam at the Mount Polley mine.

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The B.C. government should phase out industry self-regulation to ensure dams that hold back waste and water at mines are safe and sustainable, says a joint submission by environmental groups.

The Fair Mining Collaborative, Mining Watch Canada and Northern Confluence (an arm of the International Boreal Conservation Campaign) are also calling for the province’s review of mining rules to be broadened by examining all laws that regulate mining, including the Mines Act, Environmental Management Act and Water Act, not just the Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines.

Their submission is the first look at the type of changes that are being called for by outside groups as the B.C. government responds to Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley catastrophic tailings dam collapse last year and recommendations from an expert geotechnical engineering panel it commissioned.

In an 111-page submission, the Fair Mining group called for the province to phase out industry self-regulation by integrating clear, enforceable language in legislation, and by creating an independent review board to oversee the management of all mine waste (also called tailings) storage facilities in British Columbia.

While the province retains an inspection and oversight role, it chiefly relies on the professional judgment and sign-off by engineers on mine dam design and maintenance.

The Fair Mining group’s submission was among 10 from environmental groups which did not get a seat on the review panel set up by he province.

The Fair Mining group also wants the province to move “drastically” away from storing mine waste underwater behind earth and rock dams and use methods that keep the tailings dry.

Fair Mining executive director Amy Crook said she hopes their recommendations will be taken seriously, particularly since environmental groups were barred from participating on the committee.

“We really tried to put forth suggestions and ideas that would help the public interest based on what we’ve heard around many, many tables and many communities downstream of the many facilities in B.C.,” said Crook.

There were 49 submissions that made the Oct. 16 deadline, including from the Canadian Red Cross, the First Nations Energy and Mining Council and the Likely Chamber of Commerce.

Only one mining company made a submission: Seabridge Gold.

The Fair Mining group also says tailings technical advisory committees should be created at individual mines that would include First Nations, environmental groups and community representatives.

And they say the province should require new securities for emergencies and accidents, and companies’ be required to undertake a full-cost analysis of potential tailings dam failures at a project’s outset.

B.C. Mines Minister Bill Bennett said the environmental group’s submissions will be taken seriously. “I don’t care who the good ideas come from that help improve how we do mining in B.C. — if it’s a good idea, it’s going to be picked up,” Bennett said in an interview.

And he said he did not disagree that a broad approach was a good idea: that the province does not want to fix one set of rules and leave a hole in others.

The issue of creating more prescriptive rules is being tackled, he said.

Bennet noted the government-appointed engineering panel has also recommended the province create more prescriptive B.C. government tailings dam design and construction rules that go beyond the Canadian Dam Safety guidelines used in existing B.C. laws.

Bennett said he was not surprised that only one mining company made a submission as they already have representatives on the committee.

The mines ministry expects to meet a deadline of completing the code review and having new laws in place by mid-2016.

A poll commissioned by the environmental group SkeenaWild Conservation Trust released last month found 75 per cent of respondents were concerned about a tailings break, and 54 per cent felt B.C. mining posed real risks to people’s health, the environment and local tourism and fishing industries. The poll found 39 per cent said the jobs and economic benefits of mining outweigh those risks.

The survey of 805 British Columbians by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research is subject to a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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Groups call for ‘clear, enforceable’ mine waste-dam laws

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